One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when to plant gherkins is to refer to the USDA zone info for Paducah.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

Frost tolerance for gherkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Gherkins require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Paducah is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your gherkins indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Paducah. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Paducah may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Paducah there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your gherkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Paducah

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Paducah

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Paducah.